We’re working with the Ordway, the Saint Paul Public Library, Landmark Center and other partners to produce a FREE, Outdoor Summer Dance Series with support from Saint Paul Cultural STAR and the Minnesota Arts & Cultural Legacy Fund. Each week will feature a different dance theme with Thursday night demonstration and instruction in Landmark Plaza Park, followed by live music and public dances. The next night we’ll screen a free outdoor movie at the Library on the same theme.
Each week a different dance theme: Salsa Swing Tango Disco Cajun/Country Rock ‘n Roll Ballroom Reggae/World Beat |
Thursday Evenings: 5:30 p.m. Beer and wine available for purchase throughout the night 6:00 p.m. Fun dance demonstrations and free lessons 7:30 p.m. Live music by a different band every week Friday Evenings: |
June 17 Salsa
Instruction with Manuel and Carmen Rubio, Arthur Murray Dance Studio
Band: Salsa del Soul
June 18 “Dance with Me”
Vanessa Williams stars in this 1998 film as an instructor in a small dance studio in Houston. While preparing for the World Open Dance Championships, she encounters Rafael, who is searching for the father he’s never known – and who happens to be a great dancer.
June 24 Swing
Instruction with Arthur Murray Dance Studio
Band: The Senders, who play 40’s Jump Blues
June 25 “Top Hat”
It’s a case of love at first sight for Jerry Travers, a musical revue star, and the object of his affections, Dale Tremont, leads him on a merry chase from London to Italy. Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers shine in this 1935 film about mistaken identities, true love and lots of dancing.
July 8 Tango
Instruction with Cinema Ballroom
Band: Mandragora Tango
July 9 “Take the Lead”
Based on a true story, the movie tells of the struggle of a dance teacher, Pierre Dulain, to give to a group of problem kids a second chance by exploring their dance skills. Antonio Banderas stars in the 2006 film as a former professional dancer who volunteers to teach dance in the New York public school system. While his background first clashes with his students’ tastes, together they create a completely new style of dance.
July 15 Disco/70’s
Instruction with Arthur Murray Dance Studio
Band: Boogie Wonderland
July 16 “That’s the Way I Like It”
There’s strange fever sweeping across the island of Singapore: Forever Fever. Its only symptoms: a sudden urge to put on spandex and go disco dancing! And a humble but hapless grocery clerk named Hock is hopelessly infected with it. Set in 1977, “That’s the Way I Like It” follows Hock (Adrian Pang), a Bruce Lee fan, as he discovers the joys of disco when he’s dragged unwillingly to “Saturday Night Fever.”
July 22 Two-Step (Country and Cajun)
Instruction with Flory Katz and Rick Ernst
Band: Kevin Anthony and the Twin City Playboys
July 23 “Urban Cowboy”
John Travolta and Debra Winger star in this 1980 drama about a young man from the country who learns about life and love in a honky-tonk Houston bar. Also starring Scott Glen as an ex-convict in his breakout role. This film has a fun soundtrack and don’t miss Winger’s hot, slow, mechanical bull-riding scene.
July 29 Rock ‘n Roll
Instruction with Arthur Murray Dance Studio
Band: The Rockin’ Hollywoods
July 30 “Footloose”
When teenager Ren and his family move from Chicago to a small town in the West, he’s shocked to be living in a place where rock music and dancing are illegal. With the senior prom around the corner, only Ren has the courage to initiate a battle to abolish the outmoded ban and revitalize the spirit of the repressed townspeople.
August 5 Ballroom
Instruction with Cinema Ballroom
Band: The Jerry O’Hagan Orchestra
August 6 “Mad Hot Ballroom”
In this compelling 2005 documentary, the students of several New York City elementary schools learn ballroom dancing and compete in a city wide dance competition. Mad Hot Ballroom celebrates the intricate lives of these students and reminds audiences of their own childhoods when anything was possible. Filled with emotion and triumph, it captures the essence of growing up in America.
August 12 Reggae/Worldbeat
Instruction with Kenna Sarge
Band: The New Primitives
August 13 “Sabar”
An African-American, California-born hip-hop girl resists the ancestral call of the Senegalese dance, “Sabar.” When she finally gives in, she discovers more than a dance – she finds herself.
Set against the backdrop of the African dance movement in the United States, “Sabar” is a dramatic feature film about the triumph of the human spirit in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds. It examines how we constantly negotiate and choreograph our way through the bigger and sometimes arrhythmic dance called LIFE. NOTE: This is the area premier of this new film. Join us for a pre-screening discussion with the director, Chike C. Nwoffiah. Details coming soon.
Program Partners:
Ordway, Landmark Center, Pazzaluna, The Saint Paul Hotel, The Saint Paul Public Library, The Friends of the Saint Paul Public Library, Saint Paul Cultural STAR, Minnesota Arts & Cultural Legacy Fund.
In case of inclement weather, dancing will move inside the Ordway. In the event of rain, movies will be cancelled.